Exploration | Documentation | Academic work
LILLIPUTIAN MATS
mini mats made with coconut twigs
Brief
This particular module was set up during the pandemic when all of us were stuck within the four walls of our houses. The brief was open, and the idea was to look around the nature, trace designs that have been created in the nature; and in the process look around for unusual materials and find ways to make use of it in daily life.
Being an introvert…
Lock-down was the best thing that could have ever happened in my life… until the day when my father’s pulse rate went down and he breathed his last…
Walking through the wilds and exploring the little things in nature somehow gave me the courage to step out of the melancholy and let go of the past.
We as human being are so trained to see the perfections that we often neglect the beauty that lies underneath the imperfections.
The nature holds the power of destruction so does it holds the power of reconstruction…
The colors, the textures, the lights, sounds and the smell of course holds the power to heal each and every human being that has ever existed on this earth.
On day 3 of the module I stumbled upon a giant coconut leaf in my backyard.
The very shape, size, form, texture and the crackling sound while walking on it caught my attention…. It was that particular moment we clicked and I decided to use it for making something for myself.
I loved crushing it, walking on it, bending and twisting it.
After picking the individual leaves they were cut scraped and smoothed using sand paper so as to get rid of any of the prickles...
Observations:
They could be bent to certain extent
They were stiff and fibrous
Could cut hands with sharp edges
The thickness varied from end to end
Had triangular cross section
the sticks were then placed in cold water, boiled and again left to cool for hours and It was observed that neither the moisture nor the change in temperature could bring any significant change to the shape and form of the sticks…
Hence could be used in making products that can be used in damp areas as well.
The whole process of finding new techniques to scraping breaking watching them dance in boiling in water was very satisfying
Then i tried to twist and wrap threads around the sticks
The process of learning different types of materials and techniques to tie the sticks and
Eventually nearing neatness in the outcome of the product was satisfying ...
The hours I spent on making this felt like few minutes…
MUD SCRAPER
soap hanger, back scratchier, table mats
